Misaka Mikoto was serious about searching through Academy City's data.
She had seen that boy on the edge of a video from Russia on the news. He truly wasn't in Japan. And he was walking around nonchalantly in the most dangerous place in that war. There was something there. Without Mikoto knowing, that boy may have been once more fighting some great evil with his clenched right fist.
Focusing on the screen of the PDA, she gathered a few pieces of information.
She had a bad feeling.
She recalled the time when she had desperately attempted to gain any information she could on the experiment involving the Sisters.
She read what it said on the screen.
"Concerning Imagine Breaker being spotted in Russia and in the Elizalina Alliance of Independent Nations."
Imagine Breaker referred to that spiky haired boy. She had a vague recollection of him referring to his power that way.
Mikoto scrolled down.
There were a few maps with remarks written next to them. A couple of arrows were drawn on the maps. They probably referred to the movements of the Academy City forces or to the path taken by that boy.
"According to the directive from the chairman of the board of directors, Imagine Breaker will be dealt with differently than the normal method."
It seemed the "normal method" referred to the method of suppressing a force that was attempting to leak information on Academy City's psychic powers development technology to an external organization. It was a very strict method that could even give the approval to have people shot.
However, it seemed that method did not apply to that boy.
Mikoto almost felt relieved.
But she realized she was being naïve.
In the Sisters incident, she had seen much more than she would have liked exactly how dark the underside of Academy City could get.
"Imagine Breaker is an esper who has great value even among every esper in Academy City. Keeping that value in mind, try to retrieve him while doing your very best to keep him alive. However, if it becomes clear that Imagine Breaker has sided with an organization other than Academy City, promptly attack him and 'retrieve' him within the same life support system as used for the #2. Your secondary objective should be to keep this chaos from growing any further. Currently, it has been confirmed that Imagine Breaker is travelling with someone from an external organization. If this person is merely being used as a temporary guide, then the issue does not need to be dealt with, but carry out your secondary objective if it becomes clear that it is more than that. We have the approval of the chairman, so there will be no problem. At your level of authority, you cannot view the details, but the chairman's plan will continue."
"…"
Misaka Mikoto remained silent for a bit.
She was surprised, but she had also half expected something like that.
On the PDA, she could see detailed plans on how to attack that boy. It had the personnel and equipment for the unit to parachute down and a mission schedule. Of course, the military airplane was waiting in District 23, the district that focused on air and space technology.
Mikoto turned off the PDA and headed for District 23.
That boy had once risked his life and stood up to Academy City's great darkness in order to stop the massacre of the Sisters in the Level 6 Shift project. That boy may not have accurately imagined just how terrifying a thing he was standing up to, but the fact that he had crossed that dangerous bridge for Mikoto and for her "younger sisters" remained.
She was greatly indebted to that boy.
As Mikoto ran, she decided that it was about time she repaid him for that at least a little bit.